Here in NEPA, we are used to Winter. It arrives around Halloween every year and leaves well after Easter! This year, it was a bit late…..but it has arrived.
Yesterday, there was a snow squall…..nothing big, not a storm or blizzard. But if you live here, you know that these “small” snow showers can be dangerous because although they don’t accumulate, they freeze onto the roads and cause black ice. Black ice looks like just wet road…..but it is ice. It can cause a slip. Experienced Winter drivers make a choice on these days to drive slower, don’t pass people, maybe even stay off the roads until the danger passes.
Driving along this morning, from behind a line of slow moving PA drivers comes a car flying at easily 75 miles an hour…..clearly a newbie at NEPA driving. Weaving in and out of traffic making a choice to drive recklessly and possibly slip, slide or even crash.
Which is exactly what happened. Hitting a patch of black ice, the back of the car fishtailed and the car slid across the road. He was lucky…..it was just a little slip. I am sure he was driving fast because of stress, or a crisis in his life, or because he has marital problems……but, he made the choice.
Fortunately, there was no accident from his actions. He got the car under control and back on the road…..and continued to speed on through the ice. He’ll slip again and next time it may be his last. He’s not learning from experience….from those of us who have driven these roads for years and know………on black ice, you don’t speed…….not even “just” once…..’cause you’ll slip.
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